Downfall
by rkaoril
Summary: When Detective Hopps and her partner are assigned to a new case, the interventions of a mysterious organization and the increase in violent crimes perpetuated by predators makes Judy wonder if the Nighthowler's case was indeed finished two years prior.
1. Promotion, not Punishment

_Hey There! After many weeks of plotting, screaming, making playlists and crying over things I myself created, here it is. My thanks go to three important people in this fandom: Vellichor29 that is simply the best beta that is and somehow puts up with all my anthics, pyrophoricitee_ _that seems to be a fan even through all he has read about this fiction are snippets and short comics (you go, baguette boy), and last but not least, witty, the genius creator of the zistopia AU that opened my eyes about how WildeHopps should really be interpretated in the world Zootopia is located._

 _Without further ado, buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, because Kansas is going bye-bye._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Promotion, not Punishment**

 _Day 1, Savanna Central, Zootopia's Police Department, 7:06 PM_

That night, precinct one made sounds of shift change, clock engines, and Nick's steady heartbeat.

At her desk - now, ex-desk - Judy glanced up to her partner - now, ex-partner - as he stamped, initiated and signed a few documents here and there. Shamelessly, she observed as her partner's skilled hands finished each one of his reports with impressive patience.

Green eyes raised to hers, as well as an eyebrow. "Like what you see, Detective?" Nick asked in an impressively calm tone. Judy kept her stare even after his eyes left hers, watching for the last time in that position as Nick bit the end of his pencil.

"I'm going to miss you." she said, at last. The fox looked up at her again. In any other situation, she would have been crazy for saying such a thing. They had spent the whole day, week, and previous night together, as usual.

But that routine would not be repeated.

"It's not like if we are not going to see each other ever again, Carrots." he said, looking away as he assembled his papers and smirked, trying to show her that there was no reason to worry.

Nick could pretend as much as he wanted that the new situation did not bothered him, but Judy could hear his now unsteady and nervous heartbeat. She sighed, tired - if Nick did not wanted to deal with these feelings right now, she was not going to pressure him. It was their last day as partners and she was not going to ruin it for him with sentimentalism.

Everything was going to change - new rank, new desk, new job routine, but without the old partner. Tomorrow, Judy would have to move her things from this old desk she was sitting at to her new one, in the Detective's Wing. She would also be assigned to higher rank cases and have to work on her own - which was not such a big deal, she had done very well in the months Nick was in the Academy. What really bothered her was not the _work itself,_ but the fun parts of it that existed just because Nick was by her side.

No more ridiculously sweetened food at 3 in the morning, no more sleepovers because they stayed until 5 in the morning in the precinct filing paperwork, and there was no way Nick or her would drive all the way to Happytown just to leave him home. There would be no more duets in the cruiser with their thoughtfully chosen playlist and no more stupid puns at inappropriate times. They would, of course, keep hanging with each other at lunch and dinner and over the weekends... but still, there would be no more of their constant camaraderie during work.

No more… well, Nick. It saddened her deeply.

"Deteeective~" sang Ben Clawhauser through the radio "Are you there Hopps? Gosh, I'm so glad for you!"

"Hey there, Ben" Judy replied to her radio, smiling at the receptionist's goofiness "why thank you. Are you leaving already?"

"Oh, no! Chief Bogo said that he wanted you at his office before 7:15, if possible. Something extremely urgent."

"Sure. I'm on my way. Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

Hopping out of her chair, Judy made her way towards the door, stopping for a few seconds to turn around and look at her best friend again. "Nick?" she asked, her voice unsure and low. Perceiving her unusual tone, Nick locked his eyes with hers instantly.

"Yes?"

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. How could she express so much gratitude and affection with verbal communication? It was their last day together, and everything had gone as perfectly as possible. If she were to compare her 2 years with Nick to any other, she couldn't think of any period in her life where she was happier.

The detective closed her mouth - no words existed that could do justice to her feelings.

"I had a very good time." she said in the end. It was ridiculously simple in comparison to her complex emotions, but better than nothing.

For once, Nick smiled widely and sincerely, something so rare that Judy knew by the now accelerated beating of his heart that she was not the only one with these complex feelings in her chest.

"Me too. The best time."

She nodded and left the office with her heart a little lighter.

"Detective" said the chief, gesturing his hooves to the chair opposed to his desk "sit down." Judy did as she was told.

"I asked you to come so suddenly so I could make myself clear about my intentions of when I promoted you." said Bogo, crossing his arms and narrowing his dark eyes at her "Are you at all suspicious of why I agreed to promote an officer that had less than three years of experience when applying to the Detective Exam?"

The new detective considered the chief's question - she was indeed very surprised when Bogo accepted her application to the Detective Exam. If she wanted to be promoted, Judy would have to suffer very meticulous physical and theoretical exams, but they would only be applied to her if her direct superior accepted her submission. When she sent her application when the time of the Exam approached, it was mostly for experience, she had not really expected that Bogo would think so highly of her and accept her submission, mostly because she remembered how many times she was sent to his office for insubordination and questionable behavior.

But he did. It still confused her.

"I can only think that somehow, I managed to exceed your expectations not only about my personal potential, but in relation to the whole team."

"Yes, indeed. But it wouldn't be enough for me to break the protocol and accept your application before your minimum time as an officer expired, bringing me much more paperwork and headaches as consequences."

When the rabbit did not answer, but kept her confused stare instead, the water buffalo sighed and sat down on his chair, leaning his elbows against his desk.

"The main reason of why I accepted your application is because you would do Detective work anyway. If you and Wilde are throwing yourselves left and right at danger, the least I can do is giving one of you the qualifications and resources to do it more _safely_."

Judy blinked, bewildered. "Wait- what?!"

"Did I not make myself clear, Detective?"

"Yes, about your reasons." she said. The fact that she managed to somehow force a promotion on her boss made her feel both guilty and amused with herself "But I do not understand, sir, at least one of us? I'm keeping Nick as my partner?!"

The chief looked at her as if she had grown two extra heads.

"Yes. Of course." he said, suspicious "Is there any reason for splitting you two that I should know about?"

"No! Of course not." Judy exclaimed, unable to contain her own happiness. It was beyond any of her wildest fantasies - not only she got the promotion, the rank, the status, the possibility of more resources to make the world a better place, but she was able to keep her partner as well.

Bogo narrowed his eyes even more, if possible.

"If we are finally clear here, Hopps" Bogo said, putting his glasses on and looking down at the sheet of paper in his desk "I need you to sign those documents."

The rabbit nodded energetically as Bogo slid the paper in towards her with a pen. She took both in her hands, reading the text so quickly she barely gasped it's concept, forcing her to read it all _again._

 _I, Detective Judith Laverne Hopps, compromise myself with guarding and caring for the security, formation and development of Officer Nicholas Piberius Wilde, being aware that…_

"I'll be responsible for him?" she said. The concept was not entirely foreign to her - being assigned to him as soon as he graduated from the academy, Judy had to make sure he went through the routines and standard trainings before both of them could patrol streets, take cases, and do their jobs. The precinct had made it very clear that if _anything_ were to happen to their first fox officer, the consequences would be drastic.

Judy was entirely partial about that - not only she valued Nick's security above her own, but she was aware of how important his participation was as an officer to so many foxes in the streets of Zootopia. Previous to his graduation at the academy, reports of assaults and other general attacks against foxes went barely unnoticed by the media and the ZPD, considering that the species did not felt entirely comfortable with how unjustly the law treated them.

But that was _before_ Nick came along. After his design to District 1 with her, the statistics of crime in Zootopia peaked to incredulous levels - but that was only the _reported_ statistics, those crimes had been happening for a long time without being reported. There was an entire group of citizens that the ZPD had neglected until now.

Of course, the amount of reports from small sized animals had also increased after Judy's own assignment, but it had been nothing compared to crimes against foxes. When she mentioned that to Nick, she could remember how his expression darkened after thinking about the subject.

Most of them were hate crimes.

"Yes." said the chief, his expression unreadable "Until he is experienced enough to be promoted to detective as well, you'll be."

The detective assigned her name in the pointed line.

"I hope you understand the weight I'm putting on your shoulders, Detective." said Bogo, taking the paper and pen back "I'm _trusting_ you to not make bad decisions. Do you understand?"

Judy aligned her posture "Yes, sir."

As Judy left Bogo's office, Clawhauser sprinted towards the opposite direction, nearly crushing the rabbit to death in the process.

"SORRY!" shouted the cheetah without looking back. He held a radio in his hands and stopped a few steps before Bogo's door so he could catch his breath. After a few gasps, the cheetah returned to his run and slammed the chief's door open.

"CLAWHAUSER!" reprimanded the chief.

"I'M SORRY SIR!" yelled back the cheetah, his chubby paws leaned against his chest as if his heart would call it a day and leave "We… just… got… a call…"

"What is it?!" Bogo said, turning his attention to the receptionist with more urgency. Curious, Judy got closer to the commotion and watched as the cheetah caught his breath.

Clawhauser looked on the edge of a stroke "We just got a call. It seems a whole apartment just exploded! Well. Not quite. It burned impressively quickly and made it very hard for the firemammals to extinguish it. There is already a whole unity of officers taking in the perimeter and looking for victims around the building, it seems that it was purposful."

If the water buffalo was any surprised, his face did not let it show. He simply clenched his fists and sighed, not even letting his heart run out of it's usual pace for Judy's ears to catch. "It was just one apartment that blew up? Leaving the rest of the building unscathed?"

The cheetah nodded "We need an assignment, chief."

Bogo took of his glasses off, looking particularly pissed when his gaze fixated in Judy, that believed to be invisible for the bigger mammals until that point. "It seems you have your first assignment, Detective."

Judy's heart skipped a beat. "I- Chief, I-I just finished my shift." was the only thing she could think about, regardless of how little she cared about that. Bogo raised a tired eyebrow at her.

"I don't give a shit. Go get your partner and inspect the crime scene before the whole things goes down. I expect _detailed_ reports, Detective."

Judy's entire frame broke in a cheerful smile - never once had a mammal been so happy with a domestic explosion.

"Yes! Right now, sir!" Judy turned around and sprinted towards the Officer's Wing.

 _Day 1, Savanna Central, Horn Street with Melton Avenue 47, 8:20 PM_

"You need to explain it to me again." said Nick behind his shades, pressing the elevator button to the 12th floor as they had been orientated "With _details._ Not only you get your promotion, a new case that looks like some terrorist attempt, but you also get sassy, smart and incredibly sexy me? What is this, Christmas?"

"Looks to be so!" said the rabbit back, so cheerful and energetic that despite her own tiredness, her knees and hands shivered in anticipation. She felt like jumping. Hopping. Dancing.

But no. She was a serious detective in her first case. So, she would content herself with awkward trembling.

Nick chuckled in response. "It's great to see that you are so excited with positively carbonized bodies." said Nick, what stopped her wave of energy.

"Oh my God," she said, punching him lightly on the arm "you are _so gross._ You know what I meant."

"Absolutely. You are excited with keeping sassy, smart and incredibly sexy me, admit it. Well, I couldn't blame you" he turned around and looked at the elevator mirror, winking behind his shades and posing with his pointing fingers towards his reflection " _I_ would be excited about spending time with sassy, smart, incredibly sexy me."

Judy groaned, evoking another wave of chuckles from her partner.

"I mean, how can you _even_ concentrate on your job with those beautiful emerald eyes around you so frequently?" he turned back to her, a smug grin spreading over his muzzle as he crossed his hands on his heart in false sympathy, "I'd feel very self-conscious."

She snorted right when their elevator door opened, filling the air with a distinct smell of… Judy couldn't quite pinpoint what. It was heavy, borderline nauseous and had traces of smoke. She looked at Nick, who had the best nose between them. His hands held his muzzle with cautiousness, his expression was the same as someone who was about to puke.

"You alright?" she asked as they left the insides of the elevator. Nick blinked a few times until his eyes got rid of the concentrating lachrymation.

"Just peachy." he said, but his heartbeat betrayed his words. Worried, Judy reached for his arm and held it protectively, locking her eyes with his.

"It's gonna be okay." she assured him "You talk to the officers, I will look around and make notes. That seem fine to you?" Nick nodded. Judy had always been the one who had the stomach for bloody corpses and Nick had always been the one who had the tongue for communication in general. Not many opportunities to deal with corpses had been available while they did general Officer job - what they would be constantly hustling to do for detective-like jobs - but they had their moments of limitations, and Nick had never been one to deal greatly with destroyed mammalian forms.

"Okay." Nick said, and let his paws drop to the sides of his torso "We are doing this".

"We are _makin'_ this happen." Judy sang back. Nick chuckled with the reference as they turned around towards the left wing of the great complexion of apartments.

When they arrived the corridor where the apartment 1217 was located, the smell was so heavy in Judy's nostrils it was unbearable. The corridor had the feeling of being dirty, the other apartments' doors were open, as curious neighborhoods peered at the commotion of officers at the crime scene. Rush of whispers and conversations could be heard, and those voices were heightened as Judy and Nick crossed the corridor.

"Is that the bunny cop?"

"Jesus Christ, look at his claws!"

"I can't believe they allowed a rabbit to become detective."

"Here we go," murmured Nick. Judy's sensitive ears buzzed with the overflow of voices.

At the doorsill of the apartment 1217, Officer Johnson - a grumpy gray antelope in his thirties whom had strong opinions about onions and coffee - looked at them and raised a eyebrow.

"Detective" he said, in his usual bad mood, "Officer."

"Johnson" greeted Judy. Her lips broke in a small smile at the title she was still not used to.

"Sunshine," replied Nick. Used to Nick's antics, the antelope rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Domestic fire of level 2." started the officer, flipping pages in his notebook "Started approximately at a quarter to six post noon. The neighbors called the the fireman after the increase of smoke, 'leaving the entire building smelling like burned rice', as a particular testimony mentioned."

"Further investigation of the crime scene revealed that, as expected, the entire apartment was left in ruins. As the fireman advanced towards the fire, it became clear the gas cylinder in the kitchen exploded, as well as further devastation of the crime scene. You may recognize the form of a couch or table here and there, but just like the decoration, the furniture of the place was ruined. We also found a body in what seemed to be the kitchen, if the fire was not enough to make evidence a rare thing, the explosion seems to have destroyed the body to what seems to be war-like levels."

So that's what caused the stink, no doubt Nick was so uneasy. Judy widened her eyes, feeling her heartbeat increase. The intensified smell felt even more nauseous right next to the apartment's door. She searched for Nick's heartbeat in the buzz of sounds, but couldn't quite set it apart.

"We have an identification?" she said after a few seconds.

"Quite. We believe the body belongs to Damara Djedet, businesswoman in her thirties, goat. We could discern, though we are still uncertain, by the horns' format, despite the further damage inflicted through the body in the explosion and fire," as the antelope spoke, Judy peeked through the doorframe to the apartment, gasping at the damaged state of the place.

The furniture lied in pieces at the counters and walls, the floor was scattered with black, red, broken glass, and gray ashes. The walls seemed to be permanently stained with those colors, as well as with the unsettling yellow of burned white paint and water stains of the fire.

"The victim lived with someone?" Nick's hoarse voice cut through Judy's observations.

"Yes. The imobiliare registration belongs to Damara and her roommate, Doctor Nessa Dutter."

"Doctor?" asked Nick.

"Yes. Apparently, Dutter had a PhD in Biochemistry and Genetics, specialized in agricultural transgenics."

"Were her whereabouts sorted out?"

"No. We tried to contact both her phone, but it was out of service. Or data center is looking for her place of work."

Judy and Nick exchanged glances. "Okay. Let's give the crime scene a look." Judy said, stepping in the apartment as Officer Johnson stepped away to let the smaller mammals enter.

The insides were instilled in Judy like ancient photographs of warzones. Around the apartment, a variety of diversificated species rushed from one side to the other - Judy could pinpoint most of them: a polar bear took pictures of what once was called a living room, a duo of guinea pigs, and a black jackal tagged evidence with distinct and numbered yellow flags.

At some spots, the marks of fire and ashes in the ground seemed to follow circular patterns around a single spot, marking a bizarre, black stained shape like the sun.

Judy took her carrot pen and pressed the record button. "The insides seem to be stricken with the fire's damage," she said, walking through the apartment and looking around "it seems the explosion originated in the kitchen, although it does not necessarily mean that's where the fire started."

"The air smells like a fucking crematorium," said Nick, covering his muzzle again with his sleeves.

"Thank you for the addendum, Officer," she said sarcastically, although not entirely aggressive, "It seems as if the whole place was bathed in some flammable fluid. Perhaps alcohol or gasoline?" she looked at her partner, in doubt.

The fox simply shrugged, "It seems harsher than a gasoline inducted fire."

"Has the body been taken already?" Judy asked at a nearby Officer, a sheep with round horns around his head and neck. Because of the current season, his gray wool was trimmed near to his skin, giving the usually perceived-as-chubby Officer Sheppard a bizarre appearance of malnutrition.

"Sorry Hopps, but why are you meddling with this? I swear, if Fangmeyer ever catches you and Wilde messing with another of her cases it might get dirty."

Nick chuckled as Judy took her new badge from her pocket and displayed it to the officer. After a distinct wow, the officer put down his camera and pointed towards a door frame stained with black and water.

"Sorry Detective. The body is still over there."

Judy herself snickered when Sheppard left their side towards the other room. She looked at her partner. "I'll take a look at the body, you talk to the neighbors. What do you say?"

"Fine for me."

In the kitchen, the smell stained Judy's nostrils so strongly that she felt like if it was physically crushing her. It all stinked of both ashes and rottenness. Previous to the explosion, the room could have been called elegant or even luxurious, but now the delicate furniture was scattered all around in pieces of ash, burned wood, and other materials. One window stood bravely at the corner of the room, but it's glass had been shattered with the heat of the fire. The ceiling - now that Judy stopped to look at it - was stained with black and yellow from the flames. The shape of a fridge could be recognized in the corner, stained and twisted with the higher temperature it suffered.

Judy stepped cautiously through the shattered and wet glass in the ground towards the covered body, leaning in her knees to watch as the legist took out her plastic cloves and doodled in her notebook.

"Any information, Doctor?" the detective asked, patiently.

"Well, as usual in explosion cases followed by contained fire," the pig said, her features twisted in discomfort and disgust, "her body was exposed to such pressure and heat that it nearly seared together. Facial and hoof prints will be impossible, but I'm mostly sure that a DNA map will still be viable, if necessary." Judy nodded.

"May I take a look at the body?" the doctor shrugged, standing up.

"You may, but I can't think of how that could prove useful. It looks like a war victim, for fuck's sake. 15 years in the field and I still can't understand what makes a mammal want to do that to another."

Judy nodded, then uncovered the upper part of the corpse. As her eyes run through it's features, Judy could only remember the horrifying pictures of bombs and acid victims she studied in the Academy, but those were ancient examples specific to soon-to-be cops, and this was the real deal.

The smell hit her like a truck, concentrated and stored underneath the cover. The goat's body had suffered a high level of degradation that Judy could not even set apart the head, the neck, or the collar. The slightly curved horns, although, had been somehow preserved. It had the horrifying appearance of a limp goat-like balloon - the cavities of the eyes had been lost in the many fractures and exposed burned flesh, as well as the completely whipped and burned fur, that was not visible in any part. Bone tips, flesh bubbles of heat, cartilage and burned skin were lost in the mess of the body's surface, as well as random spots of black that resembled to the marks of a pancake toasted only in one side, making Judy's stomach twist with the metaphor. Judy couldn't say if it was bloody or if it simply looked too red, too maroon, too wrong. It did not looked like a goat _at all._ She could not even set apart a muzzle.

Judy covered the body again, in an instinctive hurry, stepping back from the terrifying sight that was now burned in her mind as the smell burned through her nostrils as she breathed in.

As her paws failed to reach the fox, Judy looked around for her partner, only to remember that he did not followed her into the kitchen. Sighing, half relieved, half anxious with his absence, she stepped closer to the body and uncovered it again, this time trying to keep herself calm.

"As expected, the corpse present signals of fire and explosion damage. The way the surface seems spotted in random black marks of the fire may indicate that the body suffered severe burning before the explosion, suggesting that the fire was indeed intentional and that the victim may not have been alive at the time of the explosion," she cocked her head to one side, looking at the horns "The horns seem to not be affected by the heat, pressure or impact. Doctor, is there a possibility of identification through the mold of the horns?"

"We could try," said the Doctor, "But I believe it would be easier to identify the body through the dental arch. Not all goats take molds of their horns." Judy nodded.

"Thank you. Do you think we could get a further report of the autopsy by tomorrow afternoon?" the pig narrowed her small eyes at Judy.

"I could try," the doctor said annoyed, "But I won't make any promises. You are not the only one in Downtown with a murder case, Hopps."

"I understand. But it would be _really_ nice of you if you could, I dunno, rearrange your priorities."

The bunny waggled her eyebrows a few times, to add effect. The doctor rolled her eyes - Hopps was known for trying to hurry the autopsy of a body assigned to each of her cases, leaving the legist _extremely_ upset with her lack of patience for the proper time of a report wait.

"I will see what I can do, but if you or your damn partner peek into my lab to bother me in less than 24 hours, I'll make sure to not verify this body until next week. Do I made myself clear, Detective?"

"Crystal," Judy replied, "Is this smell-"

"Burned flesh? Yes, indeed." Judy shivered, of course Nick would feel repudiated in extreme levels to the apartment and body, with his sensitive nose. She was very glad that he was somewhere else and not in this room.

Nick was almost regretting not being in the room with a corpse. With nearly two years in the field, he should have been used to how crazy mammals can get when someone dies in their building. He wasn't.

"Was it Damara or Nessa? God, I hope it was Nessa," Said one of the neighbors, a pig that held their piglet protectively in her arms when Nick greeted them and flashed his badge,"That girl definitely had a deal with the Devil, bless her heart."

"What would make you think that?" said Nick, sounding as uninterested as he really was. It was the third door he had knocked on tonight and this interview was ending up just as the previous.

"The woman would arrive at 3 in the morning, school night, all stinking of beer and cigarettes and with some... unsavory companions. She is in her thirties and yet behaves like a teenage ewe, wearing those satanic clothes and listening to songs that praise the devil."

Nick pictured a sheep wearing nothing but a blood colored cloak and singing in Aramaic through the corridors, cursing other mammals' manhoods. Doctor Nessa Dutter sounded nice. "What kind of unsavory companies?"

"Well, I'm not speciest," the pig said, and Nick braced himself, "but she would walk around the corridors melting with wolves, horses, and the lady from 1214 even swears that saw her with a rhino last Monday. That's ridiculous, sheep are for sheep and rhinos are for rhinos."

Nick wasn't sure what the pig expected him to say, or what he would have said if he wasn't on duty. Regardless, he bowed his head and doodled in his notes - it was not difficult for be a cop of two years to identify when you shouldn't start a political discussion with someone.

"Have you seen any suspicious events today, around half past five?"

"Oh, not really. Today had been really peaceful if one could forget about the fire."

When Nick had interviewed 7 neighbors, he was feeling like it was all useless - they would all say the same thing about how Nessa was the antichrist, Damara was such a nice person that her roommate did not deserve, and no, they haven't seen anything suspicious around half past five.

His weariness was starting to become unbearable - neither him or Judy had slept at all last night, as their entire day was spent finishing their remaining paperwork before Judy's new rank messed up those registrations in the system.

The fox sighed to himself and knocked on what he wished was the last door for the night.

"Good evening" he said, pushing the badge so I would be visible through the small crack the ram opened in the door to stare at Nick "I'm officer Wilde and I have a few questions regarding the earlier fire. Could you give me a few moments of your time to answer some questions?"

"I don't know anything relevant, officer," said the ram, his eyes looked around the corridor behind Nick, widening with terror.

"Even the smallest detail might help," Nick tried. He purposely leaned his ears and tail down and looked away from the ram, trying to make the sheep more comfortable.

"I was in my apartment the whole day. I listened to nothing. Good night." The door was slammed in Nick's muzzle.

"Detective Hoops," said Officer Johnson, entering the crime scene as Judy left the kitchen, "Our data group called, they just identified Doctor Dutter's job. She is a genetic researcher at ZUni's Agricultural Center."

"Thank you for telling me," she replied. Johnson turned on his heels and went back without giving any other response.

Rolling her eyes, Judy took her phone from her pockets and unlocked the screen, choosing the browser application. She was able to quickly search for the closing-time of the Agricultural Center, glad they still had time to get there and ask a few questions before calling it a day. She hoped Nick wouldn't mind.

Her partner chose to enter through the door at that very moment. "I swear to God Fluff, if I have to handle another interview ever again all my fur will spontaneously combust."

Judy gave him a condescending look. Nick rolled his eyes and threw his head back. "Of course," he said, as if he was scolding himself for not have seen it coming, "You driving?"

 _Day 1, Savanna Central, Zootopia's Public University Agricultural Center, 9:45 PM_

"We have 15 minutes, Carrots," said Nick, as they sprinted towards the Research Laboratory, "I bet they all have already left."

"I bet there is still at least one of them over there. Probably the manager," she said in between gasps, throwing herself at the front doors of the building.

"What floor?" said Nick, running for the elevator.

"Second Floor! It's faster if we go through the stairs!" she ran towards the white door with a stairs plate, passing Nick through his left when the door suddenly burst open, the one who opened it crashing against Judy and sending her a few steps back.

"Wow, sorry there, girl," said the bigger mammal, a ram. Just like sheppard, his brown wool was trimmed just to his skin, contrasting to his bone-white curved horns, "I did not see you coming."

"I apologize," Judy got up, extending her paw to the bigger mammal, "I'm Detective Judy Hopps, the fox over there laughing like a hyena is my partner, Officer Wilde."

"Hello," said Nick, bending over his own form and catching his breath in between laughs. The ram shook Judy's paw.

"I'm Doctor Cássio Gaidos, I was just leaving. I'm not sure what you guys came for, but I'm the only one left in here." Judy looked back at Nick and grinned.

"If we are not being intrusive," said Judy, looking back at the ram, "but could you answer a few questions about Doctor Nessa Dutter?"

The ram's expression did not change, but Judy caught the beat that his heart skipped. "Yes, of course. Anything. If you don't mind, I have to get these to my car," he lightly shook the paper box in his hands.

"Alright." Judy took her carrot pen, setting it to record another tape, "Did Nessa show up for work today?"

They crossed the building doors and Cássio put the box in the floor to lock the entrance. "Yes. But only the morning shift. She simply went missing after the lunch break."

"Is that a customary thing for her?"

"No, absolutely not. Nessa is completely devoted to her job, never seen a soul better than her in the field. Did you know she was one of the scientists that worked on the Nighthowler cure?" Judy raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Of course you know, you are Judy Hopps! Well, anyway, she is very devoted and wouldn't call the afternoon and night off without warning before. It was really weird from the start."

They had reached the ram's car, an old gray Wolfswagen that looked impressively well maintained. Judy exchanged a look with Nick, that was doing a good job at not looking as devastatingly tired as he felt, but returned her suspicious look.

"Has Doctor Dutter shown any unusual behavior lately?"

"Oh, nothing really unusual. Well, yesterday she said something about her roommate Damara getting under her skin or something, which was really weird, Damara is such a sweet girl you know?" the ram closed his trunk aggressively.

"Do you know Damara Djedet then?"

"Yes. She came sometimes over here to meet Nessa and have lunch with her. She is one of the friendliest persons I have ever met. Well, that's all I know about it. Anything else, Detective?"

"Well, I'd usually request the security tapes of the building and to inspect Doctor Dutter's work lab," said Judy, trying to not sound too condescending, "But I see that you are nearly leaving."

"Oh, that's true, but I don't think I could have helped you with that anyway. You'd have to go for the Security Department of the University to get the tapes, but I fear they have already closed for assistance, and only Nessa has the keys to her lab. She might be here tomorrow, so you could ask her personally," the ram smiled at them.

"Well, thank you anyway Mr. Gaidos. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh, no problem Detective. If you don't mind me asking, what has Nessa got herself into this time? I mean, she is very dedicated, but is very eccentric as well."

"Unfortunately I can't really give you this sort of information. Here-" Judy took her notepad and scribbled the ZPD's number "if you remember anything else, call this number and ask for me."

"Absolutely. Good night for you both."

"Good night."

 _Day 1, Savanna Central, Zootopia's Public University Agricultural Center Parking Lot, 10:18 PM_

Judy sat at the cruiser's driving seat, leaning back and inhaling. It had been a long day, and the weariness had started to sore her muscles into exhaustion, forcing them to comply with gravity.

"I'm sorry for dragging you here, Nick." she said, looking at the shotgun seat where her partner leaned his head against the glove compartment. Different than Judy, he was not energized 24/7 and depended on coffee to stay awake during long shifts, even when they both were completely dedicated to a case.

"It's fine, fluff. Just promise me one of those fancy Snarlbucks coffees tomorrow and we're even."

Judy smiled. "Sure. Keep talking otherwise you'll fall asleep and I'll have to drag you all the way to my place."

"I'm sleeping there?"

"Absolutely. You are in no condition to take the subway all the way to Happytown," she started the car.

"If you insist," the fox stretched himself, yawning, and put the seatbelt on, "who am I to deny a place to stay for the night?"

In the other side of the parking lot, Cássio Gaidos watched in silence as the ZPD's Cruiser left the lot through it's rusted gates. As expected, his phone rang loudly with the ominous voice of Celine Leon, and he answered the call before it could ring twice.

"Gaidos"

"Hello, Cássio," answered a husky female voice that sent unpleasant shivers down Cássio's spine.

"Hello. What can I do for you?"

"The cops appeared, like I predicted?"

"Yes. Did you know they were Hopps and Wilde?" the other mammal paused.

"Yes, I did. Did you set them on Nessa's trail as I instructed?"

"Of course, is Damara alright? Why did you told me to say Nessa was mad at her?"

After a pause, came the answer "I don't like your doubts, Gaidos, but I'll limit myself to say Damara Djedet is absolutely fine."

"Great."

"I expect no more inquiries like that, are we clear?"

"Absolutely."

"Excellent. Now, are you in your way to the Security Department?"

"Uh… no. I was planning on doing it tomorrow."

"Do it now."

"Of course, Matriarch." As the other mammal hang up on the call, Cássio tossed his phone aside and started the car.


	2. Dead End

_HEY THERE_

 _Omg. I survived the finals. Holly shit._

 _Well, anyways. My thanks go to the same ppl again: my always so loyal beta reader Vellichor29 that SOMEHOW has the patience to deal with my english-is-not-my-first-lenguage issues, and our fave drunk buddy, pyro ( call me c; ). THANK YOU GUYS._

 _I must also thank humanityinahandbag for giving the best advice of all: WRITE!_

 _Under this note is the chapter, as you might have noticed. If you ain't ready to deal with the clear "M" of the fanfiction rating please cease reading this now, while the dirt is still low. It's going to get DARK GUYS. REALLY DARK._

 **Chapter 2: Dead End**

 _Day 1, Savanna Central, Grand Pangolin Apartments, 10:58 PM_

"This is ridiculous," Judy said as she managed to both close the door cruiser and carry Nick in her arms, "I'm barely two thirds of your size!"

"Mhmm-hmm," Nick replied, eloquently.

The detective turned the cruiser's alarm on and adjusted Nick in her arms, bridal style. If any of her neighbors saw her that moment, she would never be able to sleep again with their loud comments about her poor life choices.

As she made her way towards the building's entrance, Nick leaned his head above hers, smoothing her ears down, and held her neck with his arms. Judy balanced him in one of her arms, using her right paw, now free, to search for her keys in the pocket of its respective side.

Of course, the keys were in the _left pocket._ Groaning, Judy balanced the asleep fox in her other arm, reaching for the keys in her left pocket, then raised the key with her left paw to the door lock. It took her 5 seconds to remember that she was right pawed and of course she couldn't turn the keys with her left paw. She proceeded to advance towards the impossible task of exchanging Nick and the keys between her paws, but in her tiredness, she lost her balance. To not drop her partner on the floor, she shifted her paws quickly to hold him steadily, dropping the key to the cement ground of her building's entrance.

Judy tried to bend her backs to reach for the keys, but it proved to be another impossible task. She then tried to bend her knees, only to lose her balance again with the weight of her partner in her arms.

"For fuck's sake!" Judy heard a muffled snicker right above her head, and in less than 2 seconds Nick was dropped unceremoniously on the floor.

"Ouch!"

"I can't believe you just let me suffer all this so you could be carried up!"

"In my defense," Nick said, standing up and patting the dirt out of his pants, "you looked so absorbed in your task I felt like it would be wrong to crush your hopes and dreams and deprive you of the joy of carrying me up."

"You are _impossible."_

"You love me."

When the door was finally unlocked, Judy run upstairs, cautious to not make any sounds that could wake up her crazy neighbors. Nick followed her, not as silently, and met her on her doorstep. While Judy fought against her apartment's lock, he leaned his tired head against the wall, closed his eyes for only a few seconds, and wondered if he was getting too old for so many sleepless nights.

Judy opened the door, entering quickly. Nick followed her inside, throwing himself on the chair she kept next to the desk and closed his heavy eyelids again. "Nick."

He sighed, "Yes?"

"Go take a bath first,"

"You go."

"Nick. C'mon, if I go first you will be in coma when I come back." She had a point, but that chair was the most comfortable place in the word at the moment. "Niiiick," Judy dragged the word out, taking his paws in hers, and pulling him out of the chair. He complied, getting up and widening his eyes to prevent them from closing again.

"Okay fluff," he said, stretching his arms above his head and yawning, "do you have any of my clothes here?"

"Yeah," Judy pushed him towards the bathroom door, "just go, you're about to faint."

Nick bathed in his sleepy haze, accidentally swapping conditioner with shampoo and making a mess of his fur, but decided it would be better to care about it when he had the energy. He covered himself with the towel Judy had left for him and leaned tiredly against the sink, fumbling his fingers through the mirror and reaching towards his long-forgotten toothbrush. He stared at the thing for a few minutes, trying to remember something Finnick had said about that particular object, but gave up and brushed his teeth.

His ears were not as sensitive as Judy's, but he caught a distinct sound of tires being dragged across the pavement of the street. Mumbling, he leaned against the opposite wall and uncovered the window partially, noticing the dark yellow compact car parked in the other side of the street. Nick thought it was quite suspicious, but was too tired to think into it.

When he finally left Judy's bathroom, dressed only in sweatpants, the rabbit stormed towards the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Too tired to care if the world exploded that moment, Nick turned the lights off and fell on Judy's bed, rolling on the soft mattress until he was facing the wall.

"She brought the fox home again," said one of her crazy neighbors.

"You think they are doing it?" the other asked.

"They are most definitely doing it."

Nick groaned and hid his head under one of Judy's pillows, rejoicing in her scent before sleep claimed him.

Judy opened the bathroom door cautiously, peeking through the dark room and noticing Nick's sleeping form on her bed. She quickly unwrapped herself from the towel and put on her pajamas, then, Judy opened the window, allowing the cold night breeze inside, and leaned in the windowsill with her phone.

"Hello?"

"Judy!", Clawhauser replied, "Gosh, thank God you called me. I was nearly asleep."

"Heh, you're welcome?" Judy peeked back to assure herself she had not awoken Nick, "Look, can you emit a warrant order?"

"This time in the night? I pretty much doubt the judge will get it."

"Just so it will be the first thing they will see in the morning."

"Okay, okay. I think I can send an e-mail or something."

"Do you have paper? Good. We need a Search Warrant for Doctor Dutter's laboratory, in the ZUni's Agricultural Center."

"Kay, copied."

"Goodnight Ben, thank you."

"You're welcome, sweet dreams!"

"Sweet… well, night shift."

Judy stared at her phone for a few minutes before dropping it on her nightstand and setting herself comfortably in the edge of her bed, her backs facing Nick's sleep form.

She did not noticed the dark yellow car, peeking at her across the street, nor the homeless hyena.

 _Day 2, Savanna Central, Grand Pangolin Apartments, 5:15 AM_

Judy was up before her clock, hopping out of the bed as usual. It took her a few seconds to remember why there was a fox asleep on her mattress, but she quickly recomposed herself and turn off her alarm clock (due to ring 15 minutes later) so he wouldn't lose sleep because of her crazy morning routine.

She fumbled around her room, looking for something to wear, unused to her new rank - detectives weren't required to use uniform, in fact, she was pretty sure that if she showed up in the officer's uniform, they wouldn't take her new rank seriously. In the end, she decided for dark jeans and a beige dress shirt. Judy attached her new badge to her chest after brushing her teeth, and there she was, ready to go.

Judy peered at Nick's sleeping form before finally closing the door behind her, and hopped down each step until she was right next to the cruiser she should have returned the night before. Well, Bogo surely wouldn't mind if she instead returned it at - she glanced at her phone's clock - 5:35 maybe? The streets were empty that time in the morning, she should be able to make it in time.

Already inside, Judy put on the seat belt, adjusted the mirrors, opened her window and… was that the car she had seen last night? The rabbit rubbed her eyes a few times before peeking at the Dark Yellow Wolfswagen 78. Because of its glass film, she couldn't tell if there was anyone inside.

Still a little suspicious, Judy started the car and begun her journey towards the ZPD. If she was lucky - and she usually was - Clawhauser wouldn't have left from his night shift and would hand her the keys gladly, not bothering to check if she was ahead of time. She would then proceed to fill her paperwork from last night's interviews and crime scene in record time, delivering them to Bogo's office before Bogo himself could arrive the ZPD Precinct.

Judy had done this so many times that they should pay her extra for her efficiency - she even had the spare time to stop at the gas station and fill up the tank.

She arrived the ZPD's parking lot at precisely 5:35 AM, as expected. Clawhauser was already yawning in the front door waiting for Francine - the only other officer crazy enough to arrive before the beginning of the morning shift - when Judy snapped the keys out of his chubby paws and bumped the nearly asleep cheetah towards the exit. It was still 5:39 when she arrived in the Officer's Wing, happy with accomplishing her schedule. Then, she arrived at her desk and remembered she still had to move her stuff to her new desk in the Detective's wing.

Judy bit her bottom lip - should she move her stuff now or after the paperwork was finished? Some of her stuff was already at the detective's wing, thanks to some of her co-workers. In the end, she chose to use Nick's computer, then she'd just have to adjust his chair so her smaller body could reach for the computer on his desk. When she was well installed on the chair, Judy turned the computer on, taking the Carrot Pen from her pocket and listening to the previous night's recording. Only after 15 minutes of transcripting the recording details into a digital document, she was already cursing Bogo's future grandchildren for assigning her to a case at the end of her shift - not that she complained, really. If she wasn't assigned to the case, she would probably have ended up dragging Nick all the way to the burned apartment just get a look.

Cracking her fingers above her head, Judy sighed as she reread her assignment for the crime scene. She still had to work in Doctor Gaido's interview report, bracing herself for the next ten minutes or so of reporting it.

When she was finally finished, Judy set the documents to print and made her way towards the end of the deserted office, taking the warm papers the old jet printer spit furiously.

Now for the hard part. Judy glanced at her phone for one last time, surprised to see she had used 45 minutes to finish paperwork, giving her exactly five minutes before the Chief arrived in his office in his grumpy, even more than usual, morning mood. She rolled the papers into a cylinder and sprinted towards the end of the office, stumbling into Francine as she went through the door. Judy apologized to the elephant still running towards the stairs.

It was a miracle she made it to his door without stumbling, but she managed it nonetheless. With a soft click, she turned the doorknob (jumping so she could reach it) and entered silently, hopping to stand on the chair so she could reach the wooden box above his desk, then left her papers there.

Hopping back to the ground, Judy punched the air in commemoration to her accomplishment.

"Hopps!" Bogo shouted behind her, next to the door. Judy gulped and turned towards her boss.

"Yes?" said the rabbit, innocently.

"May I ask you what the hell are you doing in my office?" said Bogo, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes, "At twenty past six in the morning?"

"Looking for you?" she tried.

The chief sighed, "Oh, then how may I assist you, detective?" Bogo asked with false kindness.

"Well," Judy smiled nervously and kicked dust in the floor, thinking about something to use as an excuse, "I was wondering if you received the answer from the judge."

"The judge?" Bogo raised an angry eyebrow at her.

"Yes, I requested a search warrant last night," Judy crossed her arms behind her, hoping the chief would buy her story. Considering his expression, he had not.

"If you requested last night, detective," Bogo sighed, throwing a folder of papers in his wooden desk and sitting down to his chair, "the odds are that I did not received an answer."

"Well, I just wanted to be sure," Judy smiled as guiltless as she could.

Still not convinced, Bogo waved his hands towards the rabbit, "Leave Hopps. And if I catch you wandering about in my office without being summoned again, I'll reconsider your assigned duties, am I clear?"

"Absolutely, Chief," Judy bowed her head slightly in respect and sprinted out of the office.

 _Mission accomplished._

 _Day 2, Savanna Central's Snarlbucks Coffee, 7:24 AM_

Judy did not like being rude to attendants. After working solid 2 days of parking duty in the beginning of her career (and another 2 weeks after that, for breaking into the expertise lab and stealing the evidence reports of one of her cases before the lab opened) she knew how hard it was to deal with customer service. But for fuck's sake, she was going to kill that fucking cow.

"Excuse me!" yelled Judy for the fifth time, jumping and waving her arm to catch the barista's attention, "I ordered about forty-five minutes ago, would you please just hand me my coffee?"

The cow looked down at Judy - literally and figuratively - and chewed her gum with disdain.

"Listen, fluff," she said, "I'm not giving you your order ahead of the others just 'cuz you think you're 'almighty'," she drew quotation marks in the air with her hooves, "wearing that badge."

"First, I didn't even mentioned my badge. Second, I'm the first in the line! Everyone else here's hoping you'll just hand me my order so they could be served as well!"

The barista looked away as a distinct 'Pff' left her muzzle.

Judy's feet stumped aggressively against the floor. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared holes into the barista's muzzle, wishing she was not wearing a badge so she could slap that damn cow. Behind her, a substantial amount of mammals had similar reactions, their fury directed towards the same target.

"Fucking God," shouted a badger behind Judy, his claws were clenched as if he held the barista's neck in them, "can't you just hand the rabbit her damn coffee you fucking fart machine?!"

If it wasn't for the hatred in the badger's voice, Judy would have laughed with the insult.

"Hey," Judy turned to the mammal behind her, using her cop voice, "there's no need to get aggressive, Ceedah here," she read the barista's name tag, "is going to handle me my order and then yours. Right Ceedah?"

Ceedah rolled her eyes, unchanged, "Whatever."

After other solid 3 minutes - Judy obviously counted each of the 180 seconds - she finally had both her and Nick's coffees in her hands, thank God.

The barista - bless her heart - even had the audacity to complain that Judy's tip was too short. The nerve!

Glad she would finally leave the piece of hell some classified as coffee shop (Ceedah clearly being Satan), she did not noticed that a) the exit door opened inwards and b) someone was entering the coffee shop. That of course, resulted in c) one of the coffees she held was prematurely wasted in the marble floor of the establishment.

She inhaled, telling herself not to cry.

"Oh my Goddess," said the hyena that bumped into Judy, "I'm so sowy!"

Judy gulped, then looked up with a smile, "It's o-"

The rabbit was speechless - the mammal in front of her was very… noticeable, to say at least. The hyena's appearance was of one that did not take a shower in many moons: a distinct stink of sweat and dirty that pricked even Judy's not so sensitive nose, and spotted fur that looked like if it had been ripped out in random spots. She wore many layers of mismatched clothes, one above the other. Some of them looked like if they were supposed to dress an elephant, others seemed to have been made with a squirrel in mind. With the absence of a left arm, the many sleeves in that side were intertwined in one huge knot. Judy thought that the most noticeable feature of the animal in front of her was the many painful looking scars that roamed the hyena's muzzle.

"-kay," finished the rabbit.

"Awe you suwe?" the hyena leaned down so her eyes would be in the same level of Judy's, they were gorgeous, a blue so light that it looked like glass, "I made you spill youw coffee!"

"Oh, that's okay, really," Judy waved her hand, stepping away from the mess as she noticed it was her coffee that spilled and not Nick's, "it was decaf, I'm not really going to miss it."

"That makes me so relieved!" shouted the hyena, very enthusiastically. Judy noticed with horror that the front of her clothes was also hit with the coffee.

" _I_ should be apologizing," Judy said, placing Nick's coffee on a nearby table and taking a few napkins from the furniture, "look at you," she rubbed the hyena's outer layer, "my God, what a mess!"

"Oh, it's fine woney," the hyena stepped away from Judy, undressed her shirt and tossed it away, ignoring the wet spot in the remaining clothes, "you see, I wave plenty of shirts!"

"I see…" Judy said, still concerned, "but I really feel bad about it!" Judy looked down at the hyena's feet, they were covered in painful looking blisters. The detective's chest was filled with worry for the health of the animal, how long since that cheerful creature had a shower or some balm for her sore feet? Judy was sure that the hyena was homeless, "Could I at least buy you a coffee, or maybe something to eat? Maybe a bug sandwich?"

"I don't eat bug meat!" she shouted, summoning the attention of many of the customers, then leaned down and put her muzzle next to Judy's ears, "It's poisoned!" whispered the hyena with urgency.

"Oh… okay. I don't eat bug meat either. What about a cup of coffee and some brownies, then?"

She leaned her jaw against her paw, "That seems weasonable. I do not object."

"Great, what's your name?" asked Judy as she took Nick's coffee back from the table.

"My name is Wendy," replied the hyena, tapping her feet enthusiastically against the floor and looked away, somewhere across the transparent glass walls of the coffee shop in the other side of the street. Judy smiled, then, went back with Wendy to the waiting line and felt her heart sink as the remaining mammals in the line drilled holes into Ceehda's face.

Wendy was preoccupied with other things, such as the occupants of the Wolfswagen 78 that was parked in the other side of the street.

Judy only said goodbye to Wendy after she got her a box of fresh pastries and dragged her all the way to a pharmacy so she could balm and put gauze on her feet. After that Judy made sure she got the right bus - Wendy insisted that she had a very important meeting somewhere in the Rainforest District, so Judy paid for her ticket and gave Wendy her phone number if she ever needed anything. The detective couldn't help herself from feeling heavy with concern when the hyena waved her paw behind the bus' glass window, and disappeared in the streets of Zootopia.

She couldn't shake the feeling in her heart that it wasn't enough - Wendy was a gentle soul, living under the hot sun of summer and cold nights of the winter without a roof above her head. She told Judy all kinds of crazy stories about how the sheep was going to conquer the world and how all electronics were spies.

As the bus turned left and disappeared at the corner, Judy remembered how late she was and sprinted run across the street, dodging animals coming in the opposite direction, and jumped towards the subway station entrance.

Already inside the train towards her neighborhood, Judy glanced at her phone notifications and was relieved to see that there were no missed calls or unread messages from Nick. The fox was most probably still asleep.

 _Day 2, Savanna Central, Grand Pangolin Apartments, 8:38 AM_

When Judy arrived home, the single window in the room flashed a distinct ray of morning sunlight through the place. It gently roamed the left side of Nick's body, flashing his ginger fur and revealing its many beautiful shades of orange and golden.

Judy approached him, leaning against the bed.

"Nick," she grasped his left shoulder and wiggled it, "Nick, wake up. We are late."

The fox turned in his sleep, seemingly annoyed. Judy sighed and slapped his muzzle.

His eyes shot open, "Did you just fucking slap me?"

"Of course not," Judy sat down next to him on the bed, holding the warm cup of latte in her paws, "I got you your fancy coffee."

Nick rolled so his stomach would be facing the ceiling, then adjusted himself in semi-lying position, "Thanks, Carrots."

"You're welcome," Judy handed him his cup and he sipped the warm drink, humming in approval.

Astonished, she watched as he licked his lips and inhaled the bittersweet coffee scent. His eyes, still partially closed, roamed through the small room as he properly sat on the bed and crossed his legs, facing Judy. She noticed how messy his fur was, and how much softer it looked when it was not carefully smoothed out. The cream fur of his chest and stomach seemed inviting, and she wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers thro-

"You're spacing out."

"Yeah," Judy looked away embarrassed, "I was wondering about the case." She was unsure of why she lied.

"I was thinking about it while you carried me, last night," he sipped his coffee, "I mean, it all seems so… I dunno, incomplete? What do we know about Dutter? Blowing up an entire apartment seems excessive if you're only angry at your roommate. If Dutter really wanted to kill her, wouldn't it be so much easier to just shoot or stab her and throw her down the hill?"

"Yeah. I think that setting fire to the apartment was excessive too. Dutter also owned it, so she would be wasting her own money as well."

"Maybe someone wanted to frame Dutter. I mean, it was pretty suspicious of her to disappear after her morning shift, but as far as we know, she's old enough to do whatever she wants and nobody would stop her from leaving sooner and go to Outback Island and drink piña coladas."

Judy chuckled, "Maybe Djedet had ties with the mafia."

" _You have_ ties with the mafia and nobody has set fire to your apartment."

"Yet," Judy hopped out of the bed, "we've got to hurry. I bet we'll have plenty of time to think about it after we get the expert reports. They should be ready by now."

"You're right," Nick placed the cup on the nightstand, "we should get going. Where is my uniform?"

"It's hung on the chair," Judy fell unceremoniously on the fluffy mattress after he stood up.

"Aren't you going to put your uniform on?", said Nick, taking his clothes from the chair.

"Detectives don't wear uniform," said Judy with a grin.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I didn't notice you weren't wearing a dress-code outfit."

"What do you think?" she got up and turned around, "Do I look nice?"

"You look just as cute as usual," Nick said without looking at her, and entered her bathroom to change clothes.

Judy felt rather disappointed by his response.

 _Day 2, Downtown's Expertise Laboratory, 9:21 AM_

"Hopps," the elephant said, "how many times I'll have to tell you that we can't report information for officers before the assigned detective is informed?"

"Just so you know," Judy replied, tired, "I _am_ the assigned detective." She gestured to her absent uniform.

Tyler - the elephant, head of the expert lab - stared at the smaller mammal, bewildered. "Oh"

It was the fourth time that day someone from the lab's staff had said that, and Judy couldn't really blame them - she had countless times pressed and bribed that same staff for information they were not supposed to give her, it had reached a point where the manager had updated the behavior rules, printed in bronze at the entrance of the building, that they were not supposed to comply to any officers that encouraged them to break protocol. _Especially_ if said officer was named Judy Hoops.

"So, can we give the evidence a look or we will stand here awkwardly forever?" Nick asked with a grin.

Tyler sighed, "Whatever."

They entered the laboratory. Inside, the fluorescent lights that illuminated the room hurt Nick's sensitive eyes, so he reached for his shades and put them on. The elephant walked with them through the place - many long tables, twice Nick's height, were spread over room. Different instruments were placed on them, thin blades, saws, and electronic tools varying in sizes and shapes, like microscopes and something Nick thought looked exactly like a scanner. The walls were covered with pictures of chemical elements, a huge frame of the periodic table of the elements, whiteboards with tasks written on them, and a journal black-and-white picture of Nick and Judy - the one published after they solved the Nighthowlers Case - with the words 'DO NOT COMPLY WITH THEM' written in angry red letters.

"Look," Nick pushed Judy closer and pointed to their picture, "we made an impression!"

"Oh my God," Judy said as a grin spread over her features. They laughed when Tyler looked back at them with disdain.

"You offered Doctor Saddles a blueberry pie if he would give you classified info!" he shouted, "He has diabetes!"

"I did not force a pie down his throat," defended Judy, "he accepted it. Very enthusiastically."

"He nearly fainted!"

"But he's alive and well now, isn't he?"

Tyler rolled his eyes and walked behind one of the tables, then opened a drawer and took a folder out of it, opening it and passing through the papers.

"We couldn't finish the analysis of all the evidence," he explained, "the fire gives us simultaneously too much and too little. We have to make sure that all ashes taken were from the same combustible, and the fire does its job to destroy most of the other evidence." the smaller mammals nodded, "All the evidence analysed until now points to the same combustible, homemade napalm."

"Homemade?" asked Judy, bewildered, "Isn't it warfare stuff? How someone would be able to produce napalm in their house?"

"Napalm can be made of many accessible things," Nick said, surprising both mammals, "you can make it by mixing gasoline with concentrate frozen orange juice, diet cola, crumbed litter…."

"For a cop, you know too much about that," pointed Tyler.

Nick shrugged, "I've been hanging around."

"We couldn't specify its exact composition, but it had low levels of naphthenic acid, the main component of napalm. If it was any kind of commercialized napalm, the levels of naphthenic acid would have been much higher." Tyler handed Judy the paper sheet, "You can give the chemical composition a look, although I'm not sure if you'll be able to figure it out."

As Judy glanced through the papers, Nick leaned over her head and looked down at the thing. Instead of those geometrical drawings of chemical forms he studied in high school, the paper was filled with letters and numbers seemingly spread at random.

"Is that everything?" asked the fox.

"For now, yes," the elephant answered, "your case is not the only that needs our expertise, we might only finish the analysis tomorrow."

"That's a lot of time," Judy groaned, "is there no way to-"

" _No,_ " fumed the elephant, "there is no way to hurry the process. Now, I assume you two have no other excuse to hang around this building?"

Judy sighed, "Of course. Thank you for your time."

 _Day 2, Meadowlands, Mound St. 89, 9:35 AM_

Lowell glanced at the building through the windshield, it was an usual suburban house with no fence, but with it's entire lawn displayed freely to passersby. The mailbox - a monstrosity of ancient times made of stone and decorated with cement horns - had the family's name written in dark gems: Nandez.

 _Nandez_. Lowell braced himself, there was no way it was not the right place. He turned the car off, gathered his papers and the notebooks and left the car.

Unsurprisingly, the front door had a stone knocker. The wolf knocked on.

A few minutes later, a middle aged, dark brown goat, opened a crack, glancing at Lowell from the inside.

"Good morning," he greeted, holding up the pendant his badge was attached to, "I'm Detective Wolfard, I was assigned to help find your missing daughter."

The goat pursed her lips, "Yes, I was notified by the ZPD." the woman said with disdain.

Lowell's expression was unchanged, "Could I have a few minutes of your time to talk about Lisa? We found these at her job," he displayed Lisa's notebook to the woman, a unkept notebook with many papers loose and bent inside, as well as lots of handwriting on the cover. Lowell flipped through the sheets as he displayed it to Lisa's mother.

Her expression was transformed from disdain to utter horror. In both the sheets displayed to her, the paper had been excessively handwritten with the words 'THE MATRIARCH IS WATCHING YOU' in red, countless times. Drawings of the aries sign were all over the sheets, and half of the left page was missing, the remainings of it crumpled like someone had idly tried to rip it off.

"I- I don't know anything about it. I don't know what Lisa was doing when she disappeared."

"Was Lisa acting different than her usual self recently? Perhaps she became reclusive, or even paranoid- "

"I d- Look, I don't know anything about it, don't come back." She slammed the door in Lowell's face.

The wolf sighed, glancing at the open notebook for the last time before closing it and returning to his car. He started the vehicle and made his way back to the police department.

 _Day 2, Savanna Central, Zootopia's Public University Security Department, 9:47 AM_

"Excuse me!", Judy yelled, waving her paws and ears above the counter, "Miss!"

Nick sighed, then took Judy's waist in his paws and lifted her above his head, stealing a indignant squeak from the rabbit.

"Oh, hey there!", said the mammal behind the counter, a grizzly bear with huge glasses, "I didn't see you!"

"Uh, well," Judy looked down at Nick, frowning to his grin, "uh, I'm Detective Hopps, this gentleman lifting me is Officer Wilde. We're here to take a look at your security tapes, would that be possible?"

"I don't really know…" the bear leaned against the counter, spreading her paws over surface, "I guess? I mean, the manager should authorize that first…"

"Excuse me, miss," without warning, Nick raised Judy to the left, uncovering his face and stealing another gasp from the doe, "Aren't you the manager?"

Still holding Judy's waist, he pointed his finger to the tag in the bear's chest, it displayed with golden letters her name and occupation.

"Oh my God!" the bear jumped and squealed, "I'm the manager!"

Nick and Judy exchanged glances.

"Could you… uh… let us see the security tapes?"

"Of course, of course!" the manager opened one of her drawers and took a bunch of keys, "over here!"

Nick put Judy back to the ground and they both followed the bear through the hall, entering a door with the 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' plait. Inside, a bunch of desks and computers were spread over the poorly lit room, the walls were covered in shelves full of DVD cases.

"Dolly, who're those mammals?" said a koala suspiciously, leaning over one of the computer monitors and holding a cup of coffee.

"Joe, this is Detective Hopps and Wilde," the bear said enthusiastically, "they are here to see some videotapes."

The koala's expression was instantly changed to friendliness, "Oh, I see. Are you working with Detective Wolfard?"

"No, not really. Did he come through here earlier?" asked Judy.

"Oh yeah, the wolf was investigating a missing platypus, wasn't it?" said the manager.

"I'm pretty sure it was a goat. But that's fine, when and where?" Joe leaned back to his chair, positioning his fingers in the keyboard.

Nick and Judy got closer, leaning against the sides of the koala.

"We need the Agricultural Research Center at the morning and lunch break, as well as its parking lot." explained Judy.

"Copy that," the koala typed quickly in his keyboard, opening a few programs, then four videos were displayed at them, "this is, respectively, the parking lot, entrance, first floor and second floor."

Attentively, they watched as Doctor Gaidos parked his car, left the vehicle and made his way towards his laboratory.

"Don't you have a footage of the labs?" Nick asked.

"Oh, yeah, definitely. Do you happen to know the number of their doors?"

"Uh, not quite?" Judy said, leaning over the koala so she could look at the screen from closer, "here, Doctor Gaidos is entering the lab number five."

"Got it," Joe typed in his keyboard again, and a list was displayed for them. He searched through the many options and chose one of them, "here. LAB 5."

They watched as Gaidos put on his white coat.

"Can't we move forward to when Doctor Dutter arrives?"

"Yeah, of course," Joe typed on his keyboard again, then suddenly, the screen went black and a window was open with the words 'END OF FOOTAGE', "what? Oh no…"

Joe typed again, this time much more quickly. Nick and Judy exchanged another glance.

"I really don't know how this happened," said Joe, looking at the police mammals, "but we have no other footage of yesterday for the Agricultural Center."

"You're kidding, right?" Nick leaned closer to the screen, inspecting the window, "Don't you have backup of these?"

"Our backup is made at each 30 days, so no, we don't. It's looking like either a fatal error in the system or-"

"Or someone came here and deleted it all," Judy finished.


End file.
